PRODUCTION PAINT APPLICATION SYSTEM SPECIFICATION, DESIGN, AND ENGINEERING

At minimum, a production line paint application system must meet three objectives:  to support scheduled production, to produce an acceptable quality of finish, and to conform to all safety and regulatory requirements.  With the multitude of equipment and technologies available, which combination is most profitable for your business?

The penalty for specifying and engineering an inefficient paint application process is severe for any business and is a price that is paid every day during the lifetime of the system.  For even mid-sized systems, it can easily run into the millions of dollars each year.  Poor layout and design can result in high reject rates, costly scrap, and significantly increased costs of labor and material.  Quality issues can easily strain existing customer relationships and discourage new accounts.  Use of any but the most efficient application technology will often result in the need for additional applicators and equipment, larger booths, and much more pollution and waste.  Among existing industrial manufacturing paint application systems in operation, our experience is that poorly specified and executed systems are the major majority.  We regularly encounter facilities that expend double or triple the total annual operational costs that are necessary to meet the three objectives above.

Some examples of design inefficiencies we regularly encounter are:

• Less than optimal methods of paint application requiring more equipment, booth, and material usage.

• Inefficient special colors paint supply pumping and piping arrangements.

• Prolonged color changes that require larger gaps on the conveyor without parts and higher levels of material usage.

• Lack of paint application process control resulting in inconsistency, higher levels of material usage, low finish quality, higher finish defects and reject rates, and costly scrap.

• Inadequate clean room environment for painted parts in the wet.

• Inefficient conveyor utilization and part presentation.

• Inefficient or non-existent degrade modes and methods.

• Labor intensive operations.

• Inefficient methods of repair and rework.

Finally, when you also consider that an efficient paint application system usually incurs the lowest installation costs, it is well to give careful consideration to the design and specification of your paint process.

Sometimes, robot manufacturers, paint application equipment manufacturers, or paint suppliers will propose or engineer a design or a specification for your paint process.  These proposals often favor the suppliers and their affiliates and seldom include the most efficient paint process arrangement available.  Often, operational costs are not seriously considered (at one major automotive manufacturer, improved color change efficiency saved US$ 26 million annually, more than the original cost of the paint application equipment!).  In these circumstances, and prior to the outlay of your major capital funding for the installation of a proposed paint application system and your unretractable commitment for recurring yearly cost of operations, would it not be wise to commission an unbiased and comprehensive process review?  This is especially more so if it could be undertaken by a company specializing in paint application optimization that is independent of equipment and paint suppliers.  Such an assessment by the North American Paint Application Company will be the best investment your business ever makes in paint.

If your business requires efficiency, we encourage you to contact us with regard to your paint application system wants and needs.  We excel at producing and defining paint application designs and specifications for most types of electrostatic and conventional systems that are the most efficient available.  We also provide paint application related consultant and consulting services.  We incorporate the following into complete or partial specifications.  

• Process validation with the most efficient technology available.

• Minimized installation costs.

• Implement efficient, beneficial, and compatible paintshop practices.

• Minimized operating costs.

• Simplified operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

• Conformity to standards and codes.

• Regulatory compliance.

Process Validation

Paint application system specifications should begin by determining the most efficient and cost effective technology available that will finish your parts with an acceptable level of coating performance and quality.  For new coatings and materials, this can sometimes involve considerable testing.  But for most industrial applications, when the paint technology and application equipment are used elsewhere,  experience allows us to recommend the most efficient application technology based on the shape and material of the parts to be painted, paint chemistry, production rates and constraints, and the requirements of the finish.  In most cases, and especially when class A finishes are required, we strongly urge businesses to perform validation testing using the most efficient application technology, actual parts and coating material, simulating actual production as closely as possible.

NA Paint can assist your business at any level of validation testing.  This testing involves using the most efficient technologies to finish your parts with your paint in a paint shop environment that simulates actual production.  Generally, we provide the spray booth, conveyors, application equipment, cure ovens and all supporting systems.  Businesses generally provide part samples, production paint, and part hangers or carriers.

Complete Design and Specification

Once an acceptable level of coating performance and quality has been obtained with the most efficient technology, the remainder of the system can be designed and specified based on production requirements.  This includes hazard classifications, two-tone, masking, or prep zone sizing and specification (if any), touch-up and reinforcement zone sizing and specification (if any), primary paint application zone(s) sizing, design, and specification, flash zone sizing and specification, booth air flow and quality specification, and all supporting system sizing  and specification including conveying system, part hanger and carrier configuration, paint supply system, compressed air and breathable air (if any) systems, waste collection, fire alarm, detection, and protection systems, and process control systems for the foregoing, including all utility requirements.

North American Paint Application Co.

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